Picking Up The Pieces
by Princess Pinky
Summary: The day after Patty's death, Prue wakes up to the reality that her mother is never coming back. Now she has to become the new mommy for her little sisters, and help them through one of the hardest times of their lives.


A/N: I just heard a new song (well, new for me, I'm not sure about everyone else) yesterday and I knew that I had to make a song fic about it. It's called _Broken_, by Lindsey Haun.

_**Picking Up The Pieces**_

A ray of golden yellow sunlight sprung through the blinds, creating ribs of light and darkness across her perfect, seven-year-old face. Her tiny nose twitched in unconscious response to the smell of hotcakes, slathered with homemade maple syrup and a perfect square of fresh butter. A smile creased her lips as she stretched, awakening to the dawn of a new day.

Prue's blue eyes opened slowly. For several minutes, all seemed normal, just like any other day. She arched her back and thrust out her arms and legs, wiggling her fingers and toes. She sniffed the air again. Her stomach growled. She slipped off of her big girl bed and shuffled her bare feet along the carpet to the window. She grabbed the string, drawing it back and to the side, causing the blinds to pull up with minimal noise.

The raven haired child placed her tiny palms on the edge of the windowsill, staring at the silent beauty of the day. It appeared warm and sunny outside. It seemed like any other day. The dark blue orbs of her eyes shifted slightly, catching something strung out over a chair near her closet: a dress. It was black velvet, a knee length dress with long sleeves and a dark red rose a few inches below the collar. A small pair of black tights were neatly folded next to it, and a pair of small black Mary-Janes were pressed up against the closet.

Prudence's stomach clenched. She didn't even have time to revel in the fact that the horrible dream she thought she'd had the night before was real. A clap of thunder boomed outside her window. She jumped, turning to see that the sky which had moments before been soft and warm was now cold and gray, and a harsh drizzle was bursting from the silver storm clouds which had formed far too quickly.

The little girl pressed the sleeve of her night dress to her nose, wiping away the clear run with the cotton and lace. And then she felt the hot tears begin to seep from the corners of her blue eyes, soaking her thick black lashes. She couldn't understand how this could be happening. There had to be some mistake. It had to of been a horrible nightmare, not reality. Her lips quivered as she returned her eyes to the black clothing that lay draped over the chair. She became so lost in her thoughts that the soft knock at her door made her jump.

"Prudence?"

Prue stared at the door for a moment. It was her grandmother's voice. She quickly swallowed her pain and wiped her eyes. "Grams?" As the door creaked open, she promptly turned her head away, returning to the rain streaked window.

"I've made some pancakes for you and your sisters," Penelope Halliwell said softly. She studied the back of her eldest granddaughter's head.

"Okay."

Penny's heart was swelling with sorrow. Although Prue was good at hiding many a thing, she could still hear the pain that saturated the little girl's words. "You need to get dressed soon. We have some…some things to take care of downtown." She pursed her lips, not receiving an answer from the child. "I'll see you downstairs."

Prue let her chest fall as she heard the door close. Her shoulders slumped to her sides and her black hair fell into her face, shielding her eyes from the growing downpour outside. She turned on her heel, moving to the table at her bedside. A picture of herself and her mother, Patricia, sat next to her lamp. Her fingers trembled as they wrapped around the golden frame, bringing it up to her face.

**Wake up to a sunny day, not a cloud up in the sky**

**Then it starts to rain, my defenses hit the ground**

**And they shatter all around, so open and exposed**

**I found strength in the struggle**

**Face to face with my trouble**

The framed photograph slipped from her fingers, landing with a sharp thump on the floor. A jagged crack sliced through the center of the photo, right between Prue and Patty. Several small bits of glass shattered across the carpet, allowing Prue to see her reflection in each of the innumerable pieces.

The seven-year-old let out a ragged sob, slowly sliding to the carpeted floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and looped her arms around her legs. Her little body shook as she wept for the loss of her mother. It felt like the whole world was crumbling down around her. First she'd lost her father, and now her mother. It wasn't fair!

It wasn't fair for her, or Piper, and it certainly wasn't fair for Phoebe. The baby had never really been able to know their mother, and now she never would be able to. This tore Prue's heart just a little more, causing her to elicit a small scream of guilt and anguish. Prue brought her head up.

The tears were slithering down her face like water snakes. Her blue eyes had grown glassy, and white lines had painted themselves across the milky white. She looked at the broken picture. The smiling faces seemed so foreign now. "Mommy," she choked, "I-I n-n-need you…"

**When you're broken in a million little pieces**

**And you're trying but you can't hold on anymore**

**Every tear falls down for a reason**

**Don't you stop believing in yourself**

**When you're broken**

Another knock pulled Prue from her thoughts. But this time it was different. Softer than before. The person on the other side of her door was obviously not her grandmother, not Penny. She gathered herself up from the floor, refusing to show her pain to the only other person who could be on the other side.

Prue wiped her eyes and dabbed her nose the best she could, and then slowly twisted the doorknob, opening it a crack to reveal a five-year-old brunette on the other side. She could see that her baby sister was crying, and Prue's heart was breaking for her. She held out her hand, which was instantly filled with her baby sister's soft fingers. "Piper…"

Piper shuffled into the room with her head bowed towards the floor. She wore white pajamas with small teddy bears on them, which were just slightly too big for the little girl. The sleeves slid over her palms and the bottoms covered her little feet so much so, that she was even walking slightly on the edges of the ankle cuffs. They'd been pajamas that Prue had grown out of, and Piper had insisted on wearing before she was big enough, because she wanted to be just like her big sister.

"I miss Mommy," the younger girl cried. Piper threw her arms around her big sister's waist, instantly burying her face into Prue's chest and sobbing. Her messy brown pigtails bobbed up and down with every ragged breath she took. Lifting her chapped face from her sister's chest she asked, "Why won't she come home, Prue?"

Prue ran her hand through her sister's baby soft brown hair. "I don't know, Piper." Her lips trembled, but her baby sister didn't seem to notice.

"What did you see when you was at camp with Grams?"

Prue's lids closed over her striking blue eyes. It had only been yesterday that she and Grams had been up to Camp Skylark. Piper and Phoebe had been at Aunt Gail's house when Andy's dad had dropped her off at the Manor. He'd gotten called in on another drowning up at the lake that she and Piper had gone to camp at. It was only a half hour after he left did Penny get the call, telling her that she was needed at the camp immediately.

Reluctantly, Penny took Prue with her. And when they'd arrived, it was a madhouse. Police cars had been everywhere, along with an ambulance, and the flashing blue and red lights had been blinding to her eyes, even in the daylight. Andy's dad had met her and Penny at Mrs. Johnson's cabin, where he began to question her grandmother about things Prue didn't understand. That was when she snuck out, heading down to the lake. There, was where she saw her mother lying at the edge of the dock, and then carefully loaded into the black body bag.

Prue swallowed hard. The memory had haunted her dreams for most of the night. When she woke up in the morning to the smiling sun and sweet smell of breakfast, her mother's favorite breakfast, she thought that it all must have been some horrible nightmare. But it was all too real.

"Prue?"

"I…I don't remember," she lied. Prue rubbed her sister's back as Piper let out another strangled sob. "It's okay, Piper." She kissed the top of her little sister's head. She had a duty to Piper, and Phoebe, especially now that their mother had also abandon them. "I'm here, and I'll protect you."

"B-b-but I miss Mommy!" Piper wailed. Tears were streaking down her cheeks at a lightning pace.

"I'll be Mommy," Prue spoke suddenly.

Piper looked up, catching her sister's blue gaze. "H-how?"

"Like we always do," Prue explained. "Like when we play house, and I play the mommy." She pulled back, examining her sister to see if the proposed idea was acceptable. She began to pick at her cuticles. "Only, I'll play the mommy all the time. Forever."

"Forever?"

Prue nodded.

"For Phoebe too?"

"A huh."

Piper ran her fingers across her slicked face. "Prue?"

"Yeah?"

Piper threw her arms around her big sister, hugging her like only a sister could. "I love you."

Prue smiled softly, sadly, and returned the hug. "I love you too, Piper."

**Little girl don't be so blue**

**I know what you're going through**

**Don't let it beat you up**

**Heaven knows that getting scars**

**Only makes you who you are**

**Only makes you who you are**

**No matter how much your heart is aching**

**There is beauty in the breaking**

**Yeah**

"Prue, do you think we'll see Mommy again?"

The older sister laced her finger's with Piper's, leading the younger girl over to her bed. She helped Piper climb onto the bed, and then followed her up. On one hand, Prue wanted to lash out at their mother for leaving them. However, on the other, she didn't want to hurt her baby sister's feelings with her own feelings of pain and anger. "Yeah," she replied quietly. "I think that she's probably watching us right now."

Piper's head turned towards the ceiling, staring at the white paint. "She can see us?"

"I think Mommy turned into an angel," Prue explained. "And angels can see everything."

Piper's head bobbed back and forth. "Can she talk to us?"

"Yes, but you can't hear her."

"What if I listen real hard?"

Prue shook her head. "Angels have real quiet voices. And if you turn into one, your voice will get real quiet too."

"Oh." Piper's lip ejected from her mouth and quivered. The child was, inadvertently, threatening to cry again. Clearly, though, she was trying to keep it in.

"But you can still talk to her," the elder girl promised. "Angels can hear everything, all the time." Her eyes brightened a little when she saw Piper's lip steady itself. "Maybe you could even write her a letter. I could help you, if you wanted to do that."

"Really?"

Prue squeezed her sister's hand. "Yeah! Andy and I have been working on our letters at school."

Piper's eyes twinkled. "I want to write Mommy a letter." She glanced around the room. "Now?"

Prue nodded. "Okay." She hopped off the bed and then helped Piper. "We'll go get some paper from Grams." As she opened her bedroom door, a loud shriek pierced the air.

Piper's face fell. "I think Phoebe's sad too, Prue." She turned, heading down the hall towards her and Phoebe's room. She wiggled the handle and pushed the door open, to see her little sister holding herself up against the bars of her crib, screaming. She placed her hands to her ears. "Whaddo we do, Prue?"

Prue shifted uneasily. She'd never tried to comfort Phoebe without Patty there before. With uncertainty sketched into her face, she moved to the side of the crib. It was too tall for her to get Phoebe out by herself; she couldn't unhinge the side of the crib. "Get me that chair," she said, pointing to the chair that sat at their play tea table. While Piper complied, Prue moved to the edge of the crib and stuck her hand through the bars, patting Phoebe's pudgy leg. "Phoebe, it's okay!"

Tears spurted from the toddler's eyes, splashing against the railing of her crib and a few even soaked into her yellow jumper, and others soaked into the sheets of her crib. Her face was a crimson color, and her brown eyes had turned red from crying. She flailed her hands, banging the crib's railing as she sobbed for her mother.

**When you're broken in a million little pieces**

**And you're trying but you can't hold on anymore**

**Every tear falls down for a reason**

**Don't you stop believing in yourself**

**When you're broken**

"Here!" Piper pulled the chair to Prue's side, positioning it next to the crib.

Prue climbed onto the seat of the chair, wobbling for a moment before balancing herself against the edge of the crib. She gently reached over, unhinging both sides of the crib and letting the rail drop. She grabbed her baby sister, balancing the toddler against herself. The eldest Halliwell child began to gently stroke the red faced baby's face, and rub gentle circles against her back. Much to her surprise, Phoebe's sobs decreased substantially.

"I think she misses Mommy too," Piper informed. She moved to Prue's other side, reaching up to touch her baby sister's hand. It was instantly grabbed by Phoebe's pudgy fingers. "I miss her too, Phoebe. And so does Prue. And Grams." She looked to Prue as if to ask whether or not she should continue, and Prue nodded in approval. "But it's okay, 'cause she's an angel, right Prue?"

Prue nodded. "You don't have to be scared, Phoebe. I'm here. And Piper's here."

"And Prue's gonna be the mommy," Piper informed. "And she's gonna help me write a letter to Mommy." Her eyes suddenly twinkled. "Do you want to help write a letter to mommy too?" She looked to Prue. "Can Phoebe help too, Prue?"

The toddler placed her hand to Prue's cheek, staring forlornly at her eldest sister. Obviously, she didn't know what Piper was talking about, but something in her big brown eyes seemed to echo Piper's question.

Prue nodded. "Yeah, Piper, Phoebe can help too." She blinked back a tear.

**Better days are gonna find you once again**

**Every piece will find its place**

With much difficulty, Prue lifted her baby sister off the mattress and onto her hip. She wobbled as she climbed off the chair, nearly falling twice and hearing Piper gasp each time. "It's okay," she assured, "I know what I'm doing." She sat down on the chair, balancing Phoebe on her lap. "Do you wanna go get the crayons, Piper?"

Nodding, Piper scampered across the room to a small toy box in the shape of an antique treasure chest. She flipped open the heavy, dark green lid and grabbed a few pieces of scratch paper and a box of Crayola crayons. As she stood up, she froze.

"Piper?"

A few tears dribble from Piper's cheeks.

"Piper, what's wrong?"

The middle child reached back into the toy box, grabbing another piece of paper from the chest and slunk back over to her sisters. Sniffing, she handed over the paper to Prue.

Prue bit her lip as she stared at the four crooked stick figures with messy brown hair, and one with raven hair. There was a scribbled blue sky and a bumpy pink rectangle with a brown triangle roof, along with a big yellow circle and way too many squiggly yellow lines.

"Phoebe and me were coloring it for Mommy when we were at Aunt Gail's."

**When you're broken**,** when you're broken**

"C'mere," Prue whispered, once again fighting back tears of her own. She held out her arm, welcoming the middle child into her arms. Her arms squeezed around Phoebe and Piper, holding both of her baby sisters as tight as she possibly could. There was absolutely no way she was ever going to lose Piper or Phoebe.

Phoebe cooed slightly, reaching out for the paper in Piper's hands. Her pink, pudgy fingers wrapped around the paper and she pulled it towards her, examining the squiggly figures. Her sausage-like fingers brushed over the second tallest figure, obviously supposed to be Patty Halliwell. Salty water began to leak into her eyes, and her mouth dropped into a half circle. A heart wrenching series of cries burst from her throat.

"Don't cry Phoebe," Piper sniffled. Her own tears were sliding from her cheeks, all the way down her neck, and slowly making wet spots on the collar of her teddy bear pajama top. She reached out her arm, wrapping it around her sobbing baby sister.

Prue shifted her head skyward, avoiding both of her little sisters' gazes. She couldn't stop a pair of salty spheres from popping between her black lashes, but because of her pride, she still refused to have her sisters see her cry. She was the big girl, the mommy, and mommies don't cry.

**When you're broken in a million little pieces**

**And you're trying but you can't hold on anymore**

**Every tear falls down for a reason**

**Don't you stop believing in yourself**

**When you're broken**

**Oh, when you're broken**

**When you're broken**

**When you're broken**

"Prue?"

"Hmm?" Prue dipped her head to the side, wiping her eyes on the shoulder of her cotton nightgown.

"Maybe can we send Mommy our picture too?"

Prue's eyes shifted to the small picture again. She nodded.

"Can you help me write my name real nice like you do?"

The corner's of the raven haired girl's mouth turned upwards. "Yeah." She held out her hand. "What color do you want?"

Piper opened the Crayola box and took a few minutes, before proudly pulling out the pink crayon.

"Give me your hand," Prue instructed. She cupped her hand around her baby's sister's, and gently guided the younger girl's hand to spell out 'Piper'.

"I think Phoebe wants her name too." Upon Prue's nod, Piper held up the Crayola box to her younger sister. "What color do you like, Phoebe?"

The toddler accepted the box and promptly turned it over, dumping all of the colors onto the floor. Her brown eyes scanned them, and then she reached for the green crayon. "Geen!"

"Green?" Piper asked, holding up the said crayon. She watched her sister lean forward on Prue's lap, grabbing for the color. She gently took Phoebe's hand and wrapped it around the crayon. "You hafta hold it this way, Phoebe." Her eyes shifted to Prue. "Right?"

"And then you move it like this," Prue instructed. As she did with Piper, she guided Phoebe's hands through the letters, helping her to write 'Phoebe' on the back of the hand drawn picture.

"Are you gonna write your name too?"

"Yeah." Prue held out her hand. "Can you hand me blue, please?"

Piper ran her hand through the crayons, grabbing and handing the blue crayon to her big sister. "Do you think Mommy will like it?"

"I think she'll really like it." The oldest sister moved and shifted her hand several times, before asking for red, which Piper promptly passed her. Within a few moments, she turned to the paper towards Piper and Phoebe. "It says, 'To Mommy: Love Piper, Phoebe, and Prue.'"

"How do we send it to her?"

"I think I've got just the thing."

Prue and Piper turned their heads to see Penny standing in the doorway. She was holding an envelope with the name 'Patty' scrawled across the front in neat cursive script. Their eyes became visibly misty.

Penny knelt down, handing the envelope to her eldest granddaughter. "Would you like to put it in, Prue?"

Prue shook her head. "It was Piper's idea."

Piper smiled a little. She took the picture and neatly folded it, and then slid it into the snow white envelope. She then licked the back and handed it to Phoebe. "Give it a kiss for Mommy, Phoebe!"

The envelope teetered in Phoebe's hands as she balanced it between her fingers, and then she planted a sloppy kiss on the back of the envelope, before shoving it at Prue.

"I think Mom is gonna like it," Prue repeated. She stared at the closed envelope for a beat, before thrusting her hand out to Penny. "Grams, can you give it to Mommy for us?"

Penny smiled warmly. "I certainly can." She accepted the letter and tucked it deep into the pocket of her long, black dress. "I can promise you that she'll get it."

"Prue," Piper suddenly asked, "how do angels get letters?"

"It's…" Prue looked uncertainly from Piper to Penny, who smiled. She turned her gaze back to Piper and Phoebe, deciding to use a word that her grandmother always used to describe things with that didn't seem to have any other explanation. "Magic."


End file.
